Telescoping head pole



Oct. 7, 1958 J. SPIEZIO ETI'AL 2,854,801

TELESCOPING HEAD POLE Filed Aug. 27, 1956 l 6 2 ll 7 I 2 FIG 3 WP'LLIA M M. GRAY United States Patent TELESCOPING HEAD POLE John Spiezio, Hicksville, and William M. Gray, Westbury, N. Y.

Application August 27, 1956, Serial No. 606,495 2 Claims. (Cl. 54-71) This invention relates to telescoping head poles and more particularly to such poles having novel fastening means.

In certain harness uses for horses, for instance, in trotting and pacing races, it is necessary or desirable that the horse does not bear into the track rail or bear out from it. For this purpose it is preferable to use a light pole attached to the harness adjacent the bit, called head halter and to a point on the harness saddle behind the horses shoulder. The pole should be telescoping in length for different size horses also permitting head to go up and down freely but not sideways. One of the connections requires a hook at one end of the rod and at the other end of the rod there may be a sliding connection through a ring or loop.

One of the problems in attaching conventional hooks to the pole is that they become unhooked and tend to get tangled or become unhooked. The present invention is to a telescoping guide rod with a novel hook arrangement completely Within the cross-sectional area of the rod which cannot become unhooked. In other words, the hook does not extend beyond the cross-sectional area of the rod and is built integral with the pole.

Accordingly, a principal object of the invention is to provide new and improved harness means.

Another object of the invention is to provide new and improved harness means using a telescoping head pole.

Another object of the invention is to provide new and improved harness means using a telescoping head pole having a hook within the cross-sectional area of the rod.

Another object of the invention is to provide a telescoping head pole for harnesses comprising first and second rod members telescopically connected, fastening means built within the cross-sectional area of said pole member near one end thereof comprising a recess in the rod, a sliding cap on the rod adapted to cover said recess in closed position, said cap being slotted to permit entry of a connecting ring in said recess and spring-loaded means for said cap.

These and other objects of the invention will be ap parent from the following specification and drawings, of which:

Figure 1 is a side view of the embodiment of the invention.

Figure 2 is a detail view of the embodiment of Figure 1, and

Figure 3 is a sectional detail View of the embodiment of Figure 2, partially cut away.

The invention comprises two telescoping rod members 1 and 2 which may be conventional. Conventional fastening means, for instance, a slot 3 may be at one end of the rod. At the other end of the rod there is a fastening means 4 built Within the cross-sectional area of the rod. The fastening means 4 comprises a recess or slot 5 cut in the side of the rod 1 and a sliding cap 6 which has a slot 7 at one end. The cap 6 is springloaded to the rod 1 as follows: Referring to Figure 3, there is shown a sectional view at an angle of to Figure 2. The rod 1 has a bore along its axis which is closed by the plug 8. The rod 1 also has slot 9 extending through it and coinciding with the bore. A pin 11 passes through the slot 9 and is connected at each end to the cap 6. A spring 12 is in the bore and bears against the pin 11, thereby holding the cap in normally closed position.

The fastener of the present invention is used by retracting the cap 6 and inserting a connecting ring in the slot 5 and then letting the cap 6 close so that the connecting ring passes through the slot 5 of the rod 1 and the slot 7 of the cap 6. The slot 7 is an open ended slot. Its lower wall is cut away to show the interior construction. A collar 13 is mounted on the rod 1 for positioning the cap.

Therefore, the present invention provides the equivalent of a fastening hook without any extension of the dimensions of the rod and without any protruding portions which are liable to get tangled or hooked into the starting gate and will not become unsnapped from the ring in the harness head halter ring.

We claim:

1. A telescoping head pole for harness comprising first and second rod members telescopically connected, fastening means built within the cross-sectional arm of one of said rod members near one end thereof, comprising a recess in said rod near the end thereof, a sliding cap on said rod adapted to cover said recess in closed position said cap being slotted to permit entry of a ring in said recess, and spring-loaded means between said recess and said end connecting said rod and said cap.

2. A telescoping head pole for harness comprising first and second rod members telescopically connected, fastening means built within the cross-sectional arm of one of said rod members near one end thereof, comprising a radial recess in said rod near the end thereof, a sliding cap on said rod adapted to cover said recess in closed position said cap being slotted to permit entry of a ring in said recess, spring-loaded means between said recess and said end connecting said rod and comprising a second slot in said cap, a bore and a corresponding slot in said rod, a pin extending through said slots slidably fastening said rod and said cap, and a spring in said bore connected to said pin to therefore hold said cap in closed position.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 302,509 Mauthner July 22, 1884 345,923 Riggle July 20, 1886 872,347 Howell Dec. 3, 1907 said cap, 

